It was the perfect ending to a wonderful career. Or was it?
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Four months after bowing out of rugby league with a man-of-the-match performance for Macquarie in a drought-breaking grand final win, veteran forward Daniel Abraham is considering another swansong season with the Scorpions at the age of 37.
And if he does pull on the boots again, it will be his 11-year-old son Lane who can take a share of the credit.
Abraham says he walked out of Hunter Stadium last September after the Scorpions’ shock grandfinal triumph over Western Suburbs convinced the timing was perfect to end his career.
But all that changed a few weeks back.
A personal trainer with his own business, Real Training – Daniel Abraham, working out of Genesis at Warners Bay, the former Knights backrower approached the Macquarie club to involve himself in pre-season training as part of his strength and conditioning course.
It was after one of the sessions that he started getting itchy feet.
“I dropped my eldest bloke off at soccer training one night on my way to Toronto for a fitness session with the Macquarie boys before picking him up afterwards,”Abraham said.
“I just told him I was really missing it and he said to me ‘ Why don’t you play – I really want you to play Dad. I love going to the footy with you’.
“If he’d have said no, he wanted me to give it away, we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
Abraham’s decision will ultimately come down to whether his new business and his family commitments will allow him the time to go around for another season.
As for his motivation at 37?
“I just really enjoy the training and being fit and capable and in good shape. But it’s also the challenge and the camaraderie of being around the boys,”he said.
I just really enjoy the training and being fit and capable and in good shape.
- DANIEL ABRAHAM
“You are a long time retired and I’ve never been in the position where we can go back-to-back premiers. That’s something I’ve never achieved.
“It’s there – it’s a possibility but I don’t know. The club is putting no pressure on me. I approached them to do my strength and conditioning stuff through them and I just said to the coach [Adam Bettridge] that I’m having a hard time with this retirement at the moment.
“He tried to butter me up I think by saying there is no reason to but I still don’t know.
“The club is more than happy to give me as much time as I need to make my mind up. We’ll see.”
